Posted By jj88 Dear All, I work at a University in the UK and am interested to know what other universities insist on when staff undertake work on sites such as Moorland/rural areas. Our policy currently requires a risk assessment to be completed before work. Currnetly, after assessing the risk due to location, remoteness etc. we decide whether lone working can be undertaken. I have heard, however, that other institutions may have a blanked policy of no lone working on these types of sites. I would be interested to hear from people at other Universities if they have a blanket policy of no lone working, and how this affects their research activities. Yours, John

Posted By jj88 Hi Andrew, Thanks for your responce. Your proceedure is very similar to our current system...though we haven't thought about placing tracking devises on staff. Interesting thought, but wouldn't go down well!! Yours, john

Posted By John Donaldson John You don’t say which University you are with. If your University are not a members of the Universities Safety and Health Association I would suggest they join. Have a look at www.usha.org.uk There are excellent networking links and all are very willing to share information with other universities There have been many discussions regarding field work and lone working taking place in the UK and abroad. Regards John

Posted By steven bentham jj88 and here is me going up into the hills with my dog for a walk without all the consent forms, risk assessments, training, approval from my supervisor etc . . Steve and Spike

Posted By John Donaldson Graham, Yes urban environments can be more challenging that those which normally come to mind, such as moors and mountains. I used to regularly point out to Social Science Faculties that conducting a survey in a High Street at Midday probably presented no undue risks. But conducting it at Midnight on a Friday or Saturday when the Night Clubs were turning out, well then they have to think very carefully about managing the risks. John

Posted By steven bentham Just for the record, Spike is a Border Terrier with an inbuilt thermal/waterproof coat so he is fine in all weathers, I prefer berghaus. Sat Nav + compass + map + mobile etc are all carried. The point to be made is many walk safely on moors and low hills with dog solo. Whilst walking in June up one of the Munroes we came across about 10 University students dressed for a Sunday walk in normal shoes with no waterproofs etc. 30 minutes before it had been thick mist and hail! I am sure the Unversity risk assessments and paperwork were all in place!! Its not the lone working what's the main issue to walking on the moors!

Posted By Graham Bullough As an extension of Tanya’s good advice about people venturing into remote locations having the capacity to be effectively visible to searchers, I suggest taking a lightweight headlamp or bicycle lamp with reasonably bright LEDs which can be set to flash mode. The flashes would be reasonably effective during dull daylight conditions as well as at night – provided that mist/fog is not present to reduce their visibility. In sunny weather, something reflective could be shuggled (gently shaken) in order to flash reflections of sunlight at searchers. Even a square of silver coated plastic cut from the bag of a bag-in-a-box wine would probably do the job. (How’s that for a good excuse to sample some wine?! Those who enjoy backpacking and bothying trips will probably know that de-wined bags make good strong lightweight water carriers. A stanley knife can be used to cut the first ring from the spigot (“male” bit) of the stopper/pourer device if necessary to make it easier to remove from the corresponding “female” bit of the bag.) Precision compasses (such as the lightweight compass/clinometer I bought in 1973 for my student solo geology mapping project and still in good condition) usually contain plastic sighting mirrors which could serve as reflectors. Steve Bentham mentions seeing a group of grossly ill-equipped students up a Munro (term for any Scottish mountain over 3000 feet high - or 914.4 metres if you prefer). As it seems that students and lecturers engaged in fieldwork tend observe basic precautions, including the wearing of appropriate footwear and taking of wind/waterproofs, I suspect that the group was an informal one engaged in recreation rather than education. Steve's experience reminds me that in 1971 while walking in Derbyshire on Kinder Scout (a 2000 feet high wild moorland plateau) a friend and I were surprised to see a nun in full breeze-billowing robes with a group of children near the Downfall, a very large and impressive waterfall. We couldn’t see what footwear she was wearing because it was concealed by the robes. Fortunately the weather stayed warm, dry and sunny all day, so hopefully the nun and the children came to no harm. As anyone with experience of mountains and moorland can confirm, weather conditions can change very quickly and catch out ill-equipped people. p.s. Talking of Munros my missus and I are looking forward to a fortnight’s holiday soon in the far north west of Scotland and hope to enjoy some new (for us) Munros and other mountains there - after building up our fitness with some lower level walks. I’m not yet sure which mountains we’ll climb - we’re spoilt for choice - but hope to include Ben More Assynt and Conival. p.p.s. When I used the spellchecker on this response it challenged "Derbyshire" as before, but also offered "debauchee" as well as "debauchery" among the alternatives. What would the denizens of Derbyshire infer from this? The spellchecker also challenged "shuggle" (a good Scottish word) and suggested a somewhat dubious word as one of the alternatives!